Mismanagement of resources leads to over $2 billion worth of fresh water wasted into the sea every year while 64 per cent of Pakistanis are deprived of safe and clean drinking water. This was revealed at the fourth Annual Pakistan Water Stewardship Network (PWSN) meeting organised in Lahore. Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) hosted the meeting in collaboration with WWF-Pakistan, Nestle Pakistan and Planning and Development Department (P&D), government of Punjab in Lahore.
During the meeting it was discussed that per capita surface water availability has declined from 5,260 cubic meters per year in 1951 to around 1,000 cubic meters in 2016. The availability is predicted to drop to about 860 cubic meters by 2025 and making Pakistan a water scarce country.
This year’s network meeting objectives were to ensure multi-stakeholder ownership for the Water Stewardship Strategy in Pakistan along with the creation of a dedicated team of water stewards who will work towards scaling up AWS in Pakistan. Usually, in the water sector debate, the private sector is missing but through AWS it gives all major stakeholders to sit at one place and discuss their similar water challenges. Through the AWS standard, WWF-Pakistan is helping and supporting the private sector to implement responsible practices that can improve water efficiency, reduces water usage, and address shared water challenges for better basin governance, consequently benefiting people and nature
